Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life!

We've entered a new phase in Chloe's eye care- PATCHING! From the first time she was diagnosed with amblyopia (lazy eye), we were told there was a big possibility that she would have to patch her good eye (to strengthen the bad eye). She has been in glasses for almost 2 years and each doctor appointment we've been to, he has told us how fortunate we are that she is doing so well and not needing to be patched.

We went into the eye doctor last month for a routine check up and found out that although she is still doing good, it was time to patch. This was a day we have been dreading since the beginning. Luckily, we only have to patch for 3 hours a day (for now). With a girl who rises bright and early at 6 a.m., she can take that patch off and be done by 9:00.

There are actually some different options for patch's, and this "pirate" style is just one of them. The doctor's office offered us a little cloth style one that you slide over the lens of the glasses, but with that one Chloe could still see around/under the patch on either side and it was bothersome. The pirate patch completely covers her eye and fits quite nicely under her glasses too. And this one is probably doing the most good too, as the eye has no chance to peek any where and be used at all.

She doesn't have to wear it in public with that short of wearing time, for which we are currently grateful. A friend of mine came over one morning and saw Chloe in the patch and I quickly explained the situation, but I'm sure her first thought was that Chloe was playing dress up or something. Our family already gets LOTS of unsolicited attention in public (twins and 4 kids 5 and under, need I say more?) and I would hate for her to get teased. I'm sure we'd gets lots (more) of comments to our already side circus show.

The first few days in it were torture. It felt like much longer than 3 hours, (to all of us)! She would literally ask every 4 minutes if it was time to take the patch off and would slide the patch up and off her eye when we weren't looking.

Now with just a week in the patch, she is doing amazing. We are so proud of her- Ben and I have each tried it for a few minutes and it is torture! It gives me almost an instant headache and that darn strap on the forehead is so annoying, and every time I would blink my eyelashes would rub on the patch. I can't imagine doing it for 5 minutes, let alone 3 hours. She is a trooper and we think she looks adorable in it.

During the first few long days, I kept reminding Chloe that I knew this wasn't fun for her, but that sometimes we just have to do hard things. She is doing it and doing it well!

It also helped to have Nana Andros send us some pictures of Ben at Chloe's age (5) wearing a patch as well. (And can I just say I am totally digging the tank top).

Like father, like daughter!

(Ben, 6th pirate from the left).

As Mitchell would say- "Arrrr, ladies!"

Fall Happenings

We have been loving this Fall season. Here is a bit of what we've been up to and how we've been enjoying it.

Leah's newest obsession- a yellow Care Bear. We've dubbed him "Bear Bear" and she crawls all over the house with this bear and takes him to bed. She only holds him by one arm.

Leah and "Bear Bear" fast asleep

Leah has always been our emotional girl. This Fall has particularly brought out some strong emotions in this baby and we've had days where she has done nothing but cry... and scream... and whine... All Day Long (no exaggeration). But when she is happy she is very happy and we love it.

Mitchell has recently taken up "reading." He loves to grab a book and "read" to himself. I hope my kids will always love to read.

With Fall comes the finding of more spiders in the house! I absolutely despise spiders- always have. I am so weary of them that I can spot one- a microscopic one- across a room and I can't stop thinking about it, or looking at it, until it is dead. They are so tiny and quick that if you don't keep an eye on it, you may lose track of it and who knows where it will end up and surprise you later! Yuck.

If Ben is home, I make him dispose of the spiders. This day, I found 2 of them way up high in opposite corners of the ceiling and Ben had to get out the step ladder to get them. Mitch thought he'd better check out the situation too.

Even with the sun gone (what little sun we had this summer), my little man is still loving wearing his hats. I love that he loves to wear hats and he'll go and put them on and wear them randomly, at his choosing. I always thought a man in a hat was very handsome.

With Fall here, the kids have been missing harvesting vegetables from our garden. Mitchell would go out and pick things without even being asked.

Boots and hat on and a bowl from the kitchen and he was set. We harvested garden food well into October.

The kids' favorite thing to pick was carrots

Our Japanese Maple

Playing in the leaves!

The first week in November, Chloe had an end-of-the-year soccer party at a local pizza place. She made some really great friends on her team and had such a fun season.

Cake for dessert! Team "Sol." (Spanish for Sun).

The girls all got trophies and medals and Chloe was so excited and proud. It was such a fun experience for her. I can't say I'm sad to see the 5:30-6:30 p.m. practices end, though. With a kid bedtime of 6:00 p.m. in our house, that put a cramp in our style one or two times a week.

Chloe has taken it upon herself to be our leaf raker. Here she is using a rake and a dust pan to tackle this small mountain of leaves.

She then, very creatively, used a fan to try and blow open her garbage bag to make dumping the leaves easier.

Our Fall has been quite rainy (no surprise) and when the sun doesn't shine it gets pretty cool. I pulled out the knit hats that were plenty big on the babies last year and tried them on this year.

They still fit and looked pretty cute.

Trying to get a picture of both of them with their hats on was impossible.

See Mom? It's a game!

They do not like anything on their heads these days, including and especially hair bows or head bands.

And the days are getting shorter, but not short enough for this little boy. Some days he just can't quite make it to 6:00...